"There is no end to the uses of the iPad in education. I’ve discussed that ad nauseum on this blog. As a learning tool, it has the potential to make a great positive change to learning. The only problem is Apple designed it for individual use. Schools are designed for ( or budgeted for) shared use. Conventional wisdom is for iPad use to occur in a 1:1 or BYOD Environment. In the best case scenario, I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, financial realities will often dictate that sharing is the only viable option if we want our students to enjoy the benefits of the iPad. It can be done effectively – I’ve shared my thoughts early in the year about the pros and cons of shared iPads – but doesn’t happen without some time consuming workarounds. What follows is my take on the pains (and remedies) of sharing iPads in a rather large Primary (elementary) school."

Photo Mapo is a cool iPad app that allows you to add maps to your photos.You can use it to add context to photos you include in your instruction and create mapped collections that can be easily shared with others. Photo Mapo, as we have indicated in an earlier post, is on sale now for free and only for a limited period of time. This deal is valid at least in the Canadian and American iTunes App Stores. Hopefully it will be still free by the time you are reading this post.

Reading and writing are skills that teachers, specially language teachers, need to develop in students. However, due to time constraints and lack of good feedback channels between learners and teachers, these activities may not have the expected results. For this reason, it is paramount for teachers to explore the varying digital tools that are available on the web to help students read and write more efficiently. I personally agree with the idea that having a set of these tools and sharing them with learners for them to chioose from the ones they consider fit their learning styles can be extremelly benefitial and encouraging as students get to see real improvements in their reading and writing performances and become more autonomous learners.

There are plenty of reasons teachers do not use education technology. It’s expensive. It’s hard to always find a reason to implement edtech into a particular lesson. That’s all true and valid, really. But what are the other big reasons that teachers don’t use technology in the classroom? We did a little digging through surveys, …

I chose this resource because they way teachers use social media has been a sore spot for many in our building. I support the idea of using social media in a professional construct and I feel that it is a powerful tool. However, even in teacher circles I've witnessed far too much negativity and I'm not sure that those individuals understand that the toxic nature of some posts are doing much damage to our school culture (and the community perceptions). I'm shocked to find that some teachers continue to use some social media to converse with students in non-academic affairs. It is truly not a good idea. I think this resource would be great to distribute during PD that occurs at the beginning of a school year.

Smartphones are fueling a shift in the communication landscape for teens. Nearly three-quarters of teens now use smartphones and 92% of teens report going online daily — including 24% who say they go online "almost constantly."

"Find the right tools for you and your classroom. Don’t dive into the world of becoming an edtech teacher just because your students have smartphones or you got a budget approval for an iPad. Use education technology as a learning tool, not as the entire toolkit.

After all, you got into teaching not to just be the person handing out iPads and letting others do the teaching."

As a parent I see first hand the struggle between the devices and the real-life activities that takes place for students. There is definitely a need for balancing the use of ICT with hands on activities in the classroom

This article really highlighted the impact that technology has in this world. According to the article, in the space of 20 years, children have more than doubled their ‘screen time.’ With technology at our students’ fingertips, it is no wonder that students are in many ways more literate than their teachers in regards to technological devices. It is a big debate in the educational sector whether students should be exposed to more ‘screen time’ in the classroom, and/or use paper and pens. Technology is rapidly changing the way education functions, and as Geography teachers, we need to hop on the ‘bandwagon’ and figure out how to use technology in the classroom in a way that is not harming our students.

It's quite a shocking statistic. I actually cannot believe that 6 and a half hours is spent in front of a screen, gaming console ect. From a generation of kids that have over half the amount of screen exposure, I can't fathom screen time taking up that much of my day. I would love to compare the amount of positive stimulation between our generation and the current kids. It has, however, put emphasis on the amount of ICT i need to be using in my classroom. The generation we will all be teaching will be so adjusted to ICT that it will borderline be an expectation. However. there is also opportunity to teach our students in a way that is stimulating I'm a completely different way such as outdoor practical/physical activity. Either way I believe we need to find a balance in our teaching strategies.

By Abhijit Bhaduri and Bill Fischer Changing mindsets begins with you! The only mind you can be sure of changing is your own, and the only way that you can demonstrate this mindset change is through your behaviors. If you aspire for your organization to be faster, more innovative, less afraid [...]

I always feel like defining "using technology" and "technology integration" is good for constant reflection to ensure technology integration is being utilized properly in the classroom. Especially for those who are just starting out.

As access to information changes so does the role of the librarian. Instead of being need less our skills in research and teaching are needed more than ever. When teachers and librarians collaborate the students benefit from both skills sets.

According to Ayah Bdeir, technology is the language of our time. The 33-year-old founder and CEO of littleBits likes to compare the engineers of today to the clergy of the Middle Ages, who controlled access to knowledge and power via their monopoly over the use and understanding of the written word. Today’s engineers have a…

PowerPoint add-in tools are an important category of eLearning authoring software, and a developer or manager can spend a lot of time comparing their features when it comes time to select one. This month’s review will save you much of that effort! Joe reports on six of the most prominent tools, in easy-to-use tabular format.

eEtiquette is a simple site that features digital etiquette tips for all of us. The tips cover everything from email etiquette to social network etiquette to cell phone etiquette. Although the subtitle of the site says there are 101 guidelines there are actually more than 101 guidelines on the site. Some of the best etiquette guidelines are available on a free poster that you can download from eEtiquette.

As access to information changes so does the role of the librarian. Instead of being need less our skills in research and teaching are needed more than ever. When teachers and librarians collaborate the students benefit from both skills sets.

A recent study has found that kindergartners who use iPads in school are likely to score higher on literacy tests than those who do not.

The study, which was carried out in Auburn, Maine early last year, looked at 266 kindergartners who had been given free iPads to use in class as part of an experiment. Out of the 266 students, 129 were given lessons using iPads, while the remaining 137 were taught through traditional methods.

The results, which were published on Apple’s unofficial tech blog, TUAW, showed that in addition to better scores in every literacy test, children who were taught through the use of an iPad also showed an increased interest in learning and were more enthusiastic about going to school."

While the iPad certainly has huge potential as an educational tool, it is important to remember that iPad is just another tool. To bring about positive results in the classroom, a lot depends on how it is implemented as well as the teaching methods employed.

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